The Weekend Woodsmanhttps://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com
Tue, 29 Aug 2017 02:22:47 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/2a1d3f38f30e78d22634668c5a2d13ec?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngThe Weekend Woodsmanhttps://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com
The Trying Woodsman visits Finland!https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/12/16/the-trying-woodsman-visits-finland/
https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/12/16/the-trying-woodsman-visits-finland/#commentsWed, 16 Dec 2015 18:44:35 +0000http://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/?p=4148]]>Here’s a riddle for you: What do you call a Dutchman living in Sweden who visits an American living in Finland? A new friend! Actually, calling him a “new” friend is a bit of a stretch, as I had known Ron online for several years through our blogs and, before that, by way of bushcraft forums. But virtual friendship is only friendship to a certain degree, as some of the most important aspects of human interaction require, well, actual human interaction! That’s why I was very happy to host Ron of The Trying Woodsman blog in Finland for several days last month.

Since Ron did such a fantastic job at chronicling our visit at his blog, I will link to his blog posts below rather than rewriting the story. However, there are a few small things I’d like to add, as well as giving my impressions of our visit.

Being interested in outdoor pursuits, as well as homesteading, self-sufficiency, nutrition, world events and a wide variety of other topics, Ron and I never ran out of things to talk about. He possesses a wealth of knowledge about a lot of things, a zeal for healthy and thoughtful living and a big heart. Ron is the kind of man who does not accept what is spoon fed to him, but instead finds out the truth of things for himself and lives by it. He was a fantastic help around the cabin, keeping the wood stove humming, cooking delicious food, helping to keep the place tidy and lots more, which was a luxury for me. Our long conversations allowed me to get more of a feel for who Ron is as a “real life person,” as opposed to someone you just know on the Internet. I want him to know that he is welcome to visit me anytime here in Finland and that I will certainly be visiting him in Sweden (and/or Norway) in the future, and that I am proud to call him a new friend.

Before I provide the links to Ron’s blog posts, I wanted to thank him again for the great gifts he gave me during his stay. One item which will come in very handy starting this winter is a Swedish snow anorak, a large, thin canvas garment with a hood which blocks the wind and keeps the snow out.

An anorak very similar to the one Ron gave me. (linked image)

Ron also left me a book, One Man’s Wilderness – An Alaskan Odyssey, which is an adaptation of Dick Proenneke’s journal about building and living in a cabin in the rugged Alaskan wilderness in the 1960s (he ended up living there around 30 years). This book is such a joy to read, both when I’m out at the cabin or in the city. My personal story isn’t a tenth of a percent of what Dick Proenneke’s is, yet there are enough similarities that I feel like I can relate to some of his experiences on a certain level.

(linked image)

Finally, the links to Ron’s outstanding account of our visit this fall. I hope you enjoy it!

Filed under: Autumn, Books, Cabins, Friends, Gear Tagged: Autumn, Books, Cabins, Friends, Gear]]>https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/12/16/the-trying-woodsman-visits-finland/feed/8weekendwoodsmanCabin restoration project – The final episode!https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/09/05/cabin-restoration-project-the-final-episode/
https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/09/05/cabin-restoration-project-the-final-episode/#commentsSat, 05 Sep 2015 12:12:56 +0000http://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/?p=4129]]>I thought I’d begin this post with a brief explanation as to my lack of posts here this summer. Besides keeping my nose to the grindstone at work, I have been working hard on the cabin and old homestead. Truth be told, it hasn’t been all work and no play, as the Woodsboy and I were privileged to enjoy a month-long visit to Finland by my parents in July. Before I get any deeper into this blog post, I would like to extend heartfelt thanks to my parents for the many hours of hard work they put in at the cabin while they were here. If not for their multiple weekends of laboring in clouds of mosquitoes and horseflies, this post would not have been possible, because I would have been much further behind in my work there. I promise I’ll go easy on you the next time you visit, guys!

Now to the business at hand! I entitled this blog post “The final episode!” not because it’s the last time you’ll see the cabin (far from it), but rather because it has reached a stage of completion where the remaining work is minor interior work, such as figuring out the final layout of the kitchen, decorating, hanging curtains etc. Before I show you the completed cabin, I thought I’d share a little of the history of the building. Based on an inscription in pencil which I found on one interior wall, the original structure (a storage building) was built from aspen logs by Herman Kröger in 1918. Herman and his brother Ville first established the farm at that location in 1880, when the old farmhouse was built. Several roof replacements over the years fortunately kept the logs in good condition, which made it possible for me to have the building disassembled, reassembled and finished by a builder almost a century after its original construction.

Without further ado, may I present to you a few pictures showing the progression of the building from a dilapidated storage outbuilding on its last legs in the summer of 2014 to a 22.3 m2/240 sqft (or 33.5 m2/360 sqft if you include the loft) 4-season cabin in the summer of 2015…

The middle and right-hand parts of this building would become the cabin, whereas the left-hand section was discarded because it was in in bad condition.

The final appearance may not be what some of you expected, as it looks less like a backwoods cabin and more like a traditional Finnish farm cottage, but to be honest, that’s exactly what it is. I plan to build a rustic cabin in the woods myself someday, but until then, this place will have to do. You may have noticed that the sauna building behind the cabin hasn’t changed since last summer. Rest assured it will get new front steps and a fresh coat of paint before the winter.

“And what about the inside of the cabin?” you ask? Well, I have not managed to do too much work on the interior because of the sheer amount of work still drawing my attention outside. Every time I go out to the cabin, I scramble to get done as much as possible, because once the snow falls, a lot of outside jobs will be nearly impossible to do. When the winter comes, I’ll focus more on finishing the kitchen, decorating etc. Since I have made some small additions since my last post, though, I’ll include a few pictures of the interior. You’ll notice in the first few pictures that the woodstove is near the loft stairs. This was only temporary, as it had not yet been installed when I took the pictures. It has since been installed on the opposite wall and used both for heating and cooking.

Living room area with mostly vintage furniture.

Kitchen area also has older furnishings, including the vintage propane stove.

Besides working on the cabin itself, a few other projects have been in the works at the old homestead site. Since there will be nowhere near enough time to clean up the wood pile where the storage building and wood shed once stood, I covered it over with a huge green tarp to make it a little more pleasing to the eye.

I also had a backhoe operator demolish an old sauna building which was literally falling off its foundation and could not be salvaged. The demolition debris is under the green tarp in the second picture and will be disposed of this fall. The building used to stand directly to the right of where the tarp is now.

The old sauna is the little red building on the left.

Finally, I got rid of the biggest eyesore at the old homestead: a huge pile of garbage that accumulated over a period of two years as I cleaned out the old house and storage building, demolished the old outhouse, cleaned up garbage I found in the woods etc.

As I mentioned above, my parents were instrumental in helping to get the cabin to where it is today. Besides doing a lot of grunt work clearing piles of heavy branches and garbage and also handling many other odd jobs, they helped tremendously in painting the exterior of the cabin. This blog post just would not be complete if I didn’t show them in action!

So what’s next for the new-old homestead? I’m hoping to get an electrical hook-up and indoor plumbing before winter so I can do my day job from there, but these things might have to wait until the spring. I will build a few structures to house firewood, continue repairing the facade of the old farm house and do some autumn landscaping as well before the winter hits. I’ll work on the cabin interior and clean up inside the old house during the winter and then work on a greenhouse and garden in the spring. Now that the cabin work is winding down, I will be able to spend some more time on my outdoor pursuits as well.

Thanks for reading!

Filed under: Building, Cabins, Homesteading, Shelter, Summer Tagged: Building, Cabins, Homesteading, Shelter, Summer]]>https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/09/05/cabin-restoration-project-the-final-episode/feed/24weekendwoodsmanCabin restoration project – Construction is finished, furnishing has begunhttps://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/cabin-restoration-project-construction-is-finished-furnishing-has-begun/
https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/cabin-restoration-project-construction-is-finished-furnishing-has-begun/#commentsSun, 07 Jun 2015 11:58:42 +0000http://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/?p=4115]]>If you have been keeping up with my blog, you know that I have been spending just about all my free time working on getting the homestead site into shape and have not been able to do much bushcraft-related stuff. I’m hoping to bring you more bushcraft posts once the homestead work slows down. Until then, may I present you with another cabin post.

I’ll spare you the list of a million odds-and-ends jobs I’ve been working on out at the old farm and cut to the slightly-more-intersting chase, the cabin progress. The contractor finished the tiny bathroom shell, built a safety railing next to the stairs-opening in the loft floor, fitted the remaining molding, finished the front porch and covered the ends of the logs with boards in the traditional style. The only job left for him to do is to install the wood-burning stove.

Once this work was complete, I had to brush off the entire interior surface of the cabin to remove the sawdust which had accumulated from the construction work. Then I oil-treated the floor, and when that dried, my friend Juha and I moved some furniture in, hung cabinets etc. By the way, the kitchen setup is still VERY temporary. I’m still not sure what kind of counter and sink will be there, but I had to put something there in the meantime. Decorations and such will also be added as time goes on.

Juha also graciously helped me to demolish what was left of the old storage building whence the cabin came and the old wood shed as well. There’s still a lot of wood to clean up, but at least the most dangerous and tricky part is done.

The Woodsboy and I have spent two nights in the cabin since my friend and I set it up. With a total floor space (including the loft) of 33.5 m²/360 sqft, it was a lot more comfortable than staying in the 3.7 m²/40 sqft changing room in the sauna building! While we were there, we set up the kitchen with cooking and eating implements and a 20 L water tank over a basin for use as a temporary sink. We also installed a Nature’s Head composting toilet in the bathroom.

The first night we were there, we slept a little cool (as I mentioned, the wood stove hasn’t been installed yet), so the next day I had to figure out a way to warm up the place. I rediscovered a vintage Swedish kerosene heater in the old farm house, dusted it off, checked the fuel (full tank), adjusted the wicks and lit it up. It worked perfectly, and we had heat! To be on the safe side, we stayed nearby outside the cabin while the heater was running and then vented the building after turning it off to let any fumes out.

I’m happy to report that we also have our first piece of “farm machinery,” a classic Stiga riding lawnmower given to us by the Woodsboy’s great-grandparents and repaired by his grandfather. This will be a huge help in keeping the lawn under control, not only so it looks nice, but to keep ticks and snakes away as well. It can also be used for light-duty hauling jobs around the future homestead.

As with the lawnmower, all the furnishings you see in the cabin were either given to me second hand or scavenged from the old farm house, with the sole exceptions being the wood-burning stove and composting toilet, which I bought new. The stuff may not be pretty, but the price is right!

I’m very happy with the progress that has been made so far, but there’s still much to do. By the end of the summer, the cleanup work should be done and the cabin should be painted, set up with electricity etc. I’ll also throw up some kind of firewood shelter in preparation for winter, as we will be spending a lot of time there then as well. Projects for the fall and the coming years include a greenhouse, chicken coop, gardens and lots more.

Until next time!

Filed under: Building, Cabins, Homestead, Homesteading, Shelter, Summer Tagged: Building, Cabins, Homestead, Homesteading, Shelter, Summer]]>https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/cabin-restoration-project-construction-is-finished-furnishing-has-begun/feed/38weekendwoodsmanCabin restoration project – Construction nears completionhttps://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/05/13/cabin-restoration-project-construction-nears-completion/
https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/05/13/cabin-restoration-project-construction-nears-completion/#commentsWed, 13 May 2015 15:59:11 +0000http://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/?p=4103]]>For the past several weeks, the building contractor has been working hard to get the century-old brand-new cabin into shape and ready for occupancy. Since my last cabin update, all the windows have been installed and trimmed, the door has been installed, the floor insulation and flooring have been installed, the bathroom shell has been largely completed, the loft stairs have been built, some exterior insulation has been installed and covered and a lot of the front porch has been constructed. I imagine all the rest of the work by the contractor will be completed over the next week or two, and then it’ll be my turn to furnish the cabin, set up the kitchen and bathroom, paint the exterior etc.

Meanwhile, my friend Alex and I did some work of our own to the sauna, namely raising it up onto six concrete blocks left over from the cabin construction and digging out the area around and under the building for better ventilation underneath, to preserve the wooden beams the sauna is built on and to prevent mice from finding their way inside through the drain holes in the sauna (the beams/sauna used to rest directly on the ground).

I’ve spent just about every weekend for the last two months out at the future homestead site doing extremely uninteresting things like yard work (no yard work had been done there in 20 years, so you can imagine how much there is to do…), collecting all kinds of interesting garbage from around the property and throwing it onto the mountain of trash which has been accumulating and also fixing up the exterior of the old farm house to make it a little more presentable. After one or two more weekends of yard work, I think I’ll have the place the way I want it. Then I’ll start dismantling what’s left of the old storage building where the new cabin originally came from and sort through the wood to see what I can use for firewood and future building projects (chicken coop, greenhouse, firewood shelter etc.).

I’ll leave you with a picture of a stoat (mustela erminea) which seems to have made the old farm its home. Hope you enjoyed this update!

Filed under: Animals, Building, Cabins, DIY, Shelter, Spring Tagged: Animals, Building, Cabins, DIY, Shelter, Spring]]>https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/05/13/cabin-restoration-project-construction-nears-completion/feed/12weekendwoodsman(Belated) overnight trip report – March 21st/22ndhttps://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/05/04/belated-overnight-trip-report-march-21st22nd/
https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/05/04/belated-overnight-trip-report-march-21st22nd/#commentsMon, 04 May 2015 06:24:11 +0000http://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/?p=4099]]>Toward the end of March, I spent a weekend exploring the old farm woods and the surrounding area, finally locating all the boundary markers of the property and discovering some other interesting features of the “neighborhood” as well. At that time, there was still a good bit of snow on the ground, most of which has since melted, and the temperatures were a lot lower, too, with about -5ºC/+23ºF during the day and -12ºC/+10ºF at night.

Before choosing a new campsite and setting up camp, I wandered around looking for the back property markers, taking some pictures as I went along.

I found a nice, reasonably flat spot at a far corner of the property and set up the MIL-TEC tarp in my beloved Holden tent configuration. So far, I’ve been very pleased with this tarp, which I bought a little over a year ago.

Once my camp was set up, I located some potential firewood nearby. Besides a few smaller dead pine saplings, I found a nice larger dead pine which had partially fallen over some time ago. Getting a hung-up tree like this unstuck can be very dangerous, so I’m not going to give instructions on that there. All I will say is that it’s a good idea to read up on the subject and have an experienced tree feller go out into the field with you to show you how to do it. In general, though, the idea is to first cut the tree at the base and then carefully move up the trunk, cutting section by section, until it can be freed from the other tree.

I cut the trunk into campfire-sized pieces and also collected the dry branches from the top of the tree.

To ignite the dry branches, I would need something finer and easily flammable, so I went back to an area where I had remembered seeing lots of birch bark on the ground. This bark had been stripped off some trees when the loggers came through to thin out the forest last year.

After splitting up some of the sections of the pine tree I had dislodged and sectioned, I laid down some lower-quality, partially rotten pieces of wood in the spot I had chosen for the campfire. On this I placed a piece of birch bark, which I scraped with my BushProwler knife from Ilkka Seikku to create a fine pile of paper-thin shavings to ignite with my ferrocerium rod. I then added progressively bigger pieces of wood until the fire was ready for me to start heating up some food.

Once I had eaten and relaxed a bit, I decided to spend the evening exploring the area some more.

Plenty of animal sign:

Curiosity led me to climb some of the higher hills in the area, which rewarded me with a really nice view. First, looking down at my campsite:

This was followed by a short hike down to the lake, where I plan to do some fishing this season.

After hiking around, I sat by the fire for a long while, ate some dinner and watched the stars appear one-by-one as the sky darkened to night. I slipped into my nested sleeping bags in my poncho bivy and continued watching the sky through the doorway of my tent until I drifted off. After a good night’s rest, I arose in the morning, shook off the sleep and started the morning fire. Once again, I dined on Finnish rice pies (riisipiirakka) and a meat pie (lihapiirakka). I also boiled up some water for instant coffee in my Swedish mess kit lid.

Wanting to take advantage of being in the neighborhood, I packed up camp and hiked back to the cabin site, where I spent the rest of the afternoon working on the future homestead.

Filed under: Animals/Tracking, Axes, Bush cooking & wild edibles, Bushcraft, Camping, Cutting tools, Fire/Firelighting, Gear, Hiking, Knives, Plants/Trees/Fungi/Lichens, Shelter, Tents, Tools, Winter Tagged: Animals/Tracking, Axes, Bush cooking & wild edibles, Bushcraft, Camping, Cutting tools, Fire/Firelighting, Gear, Hiking, Knives, Plants/Trees/Fungi/Lichens, Tents, Tools, Winter]]>https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/05/04/belated-overnight-trip-report-march-21st22nd/feed/6weekendwoodsmanCabin restoration project – The rebuild has resumed!https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/04/28/cabin-restoration-project-the-rebuild-has-resumed/
https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/04/28/cabin-restoration-project-the-rebuild-has-resumed/#commentsTue, 28 Apr 2015 08:36:57 +0000http://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/?p=4083]]>After being on the back burner for several months due to other larger jobs, the building contractor has resumed work on the cabin! As you can see in the pictures, the windows are at varying stages of completion, the roof insulation and interior roof have been put in place, most of the exterior roof has been completed, most of the loft has been constructed (the ladder is temporary and will be replaced with stairs), floor construction is coming along and the old doorway on the front right side has been filled with logs taken from the interior partition wall, which has been removed. The contractor will be at the site again this week, so I am looking forward to going out there this weekend to see what has been done. We have finalized all the plans for the rest of the work, which should be finished over the next few weeks. Keep in mind that there is still a good amount of work to be done, so if something doesn’t look finished, it probably isn’t!

Stay tuned for a (belated) overnight camping trip report from late March!

Filed under: Building, Cabins, Shelter, Spring Tagged: Building, Cabins, Shelter, Spring]]>https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/04/28/cabin-restoration-project-the-rebuild-has-resumed/feed/16weekendwoodsmanThe Woodsboy’s first knifehttps://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/04/13/the-woodsboys-first-knife/
https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/04/13/the-woodsboys-first-knife/#commentsMon, 13 Apr 2015 08:13:37 +0000http://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/?p=3875]]>A little over a year ago, when the Woodsboy turned 5, I bought him his first knife. While this may seem too young an age to some people, I think this is largely a 1st-world viewpoint. From evidence I have seen, children in rural areas of developing countries and tribal societies around the world are accustomed to using knives at even younger ages. It’s true that this is largely out of necessity, as they don’t live in a world full of pre-packaged, store-bought items, but the simple fact is that they would not be allowed to handle knives like this if they were not capable of it. So under constant supervision, with safety always in mind and with a clear set of ground rules (e.g. always cutting away from himself, always returning his knife to its sheath when not in use, only cutting things Daddy lets him cut, letting Daddy keep the knife in a safe place when we’re not practicing with it etc.), I have begun teaching the Woodsboy how to use his first knife.

I bought this knife from a local sporting goods store for around 25 Euros ($27.50). A few specs:

8 cm (3.2″) Scandi-ground blade

Rounded tip for safety

Finger guard

Grippy rubber handle

Rugged leather sheath

So far over the past year or so we have used the knife together about half a dozen times, and our use has been centered around safe handling, as well as getting to know how the blade works and how to cut effectively. Most of what we do is cutting sticks, whittling and cutting string. As he gets older and progresses, we’ll work on wood carving and other things like that. I’m happy to say that the Woodsboy has never come close to hurting himself with the knife and am proud to see that he handles it in a safe way (praise for good behavior goes a long way!). If you are looking for a starter knife for a child, I highly recommend the Marttiini Condor Junior or a similar knife with the same level of quality and safety features. The Condor Junior is a solid, well-made knife which should serve my son well for years (BTW, the tip can be ground pointy later on when he is mature enough and can begin carving with the tip).

I will leave you with a picture from last weekend showing the Woodsboy practicing his feather-stick/shaving making skills. Needless to say, we were both very proud of his pile of shavings (which by the end was more than enough to get a campfire going).

DISCLAIMER: Utmost care is necessary when allowing children to use bladed tools. They should NOT be left unattended. You alone as a parent/guardian are responsible for deciding whether or not your own child is old/mature enough to handle bladed tools and for teaching and supervising them.

Filed under: Bushcraft, Camping, Carving, Cutting tools, Gear, Hiking, Knives, Tools, Woodsboy Tagged: Bushcraft, Camping, Carving, Cutting tools, Gear, Hiking, Knives, Tools, Woodsboy]]>https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/04/13/the-woodsboys-first-knife/feed/30weekendwoodsmanWill the real Weekend Woodsman please stand up?https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/will-the-real-weekend-woodsman-please-stand-up/
https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/will-the-real-weekend-woodsman-please-stand-up/#commentsWed, 08 Apr 2015 10:36:45 +0000http://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/?p=4077]]>It appears someone in Canada has purchased the domain name http://www.weekendwoodsman.com, is calling himself “Weekend Woodsman” and has been running a blog of the same name since July of 2014 (almost 3 years after I started my blog “The Weekend Woodsman”). I have never been contacted by him regarding use of the name “Weekend Woodsman,” so perhaps he was simply unaware of my blog and meant no harm. However, since both the content of our blogs and the climate we live in are similar, I would appreciate it if he would change the name of his blog (for example “Weekend Woodsman in Canada,” “Weekend Woodsman in CA,” “Weekend Woodsman in Newfoundland” etc.) so as to avoid confusion. I do not wish for people who are looking for my blog to think his is mine by mistake. Unfortunately, I’m having a tough time getting in touch with him, as I can’t log in to leave comments at his blog, send him an email etc. If anyone knows the owner of this blog/website or if you are able to contact him, please ask him to contact me.

Thanks!

Filed under: Announcements Tagged: Announcements]]>https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/will-the-real-weekend-woodsman-please-stand-up/feed/16weekendwoodsmanOb-La-Di, Ob-La-Da…https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/04/03/ob-la-di-ob-la-da/
https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/04/03/ob-la-di-ob-la-da/#commentsFri, 03 Apr 2015 12:30:05 +0000http://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/?p=4061]]>I don’t often talk about personal issues here at the blog, but I feel compelled to share a little information about why it has been relatively quiet here for so long. Almost a year ago now, my wife and I separated. That separation will be finalized this year. I don’t want to go into too much detail, though I will say that the cause wasn’t anything heavy like substance abuse, infidelity or anything like that. It essentially came down to us being two very different people who seemed to be on different paths in life. I will say that the thing that probably hurt me most was the breakup of our family, which I thought was very unfair to the Woodsboy and his emotional future, especially since we had always had such a happy and healthy home life. However, when two people don’t share the same general set of moral and ethical values about what is most important in life, eventually there will be problems. Our separation and divorce were very surprising to many people, including our relatives, co-workers etc., many of whom didn’t understand it (and I have to admit I still don’t understand it 100%).

In the grand scheme of things, though, this doesn’t matter. The fact is that life is going to give you what it gives you, whether you want it or not. There will be injuries. There will be job losses. There will be separations. These things are absolutely inevitable. The only thing we have control over is how we respond to the things that happen to us. You can either get angry and upset, which makes things worse, or you can turn the other cheek and transform it into something positive. You could say life had given me a truck-load of lemons last year. Fortunately for me, I like lemonade.

So life does, and has been, going on. I took a break from bushcraft, camping etc. for a while, instead focusing on my growth and development as a person, spending lots of fantastic quality time with the Woodsboy, forging new friendships and working on projects at the homestead. Speaking of the homestead, the contractor I hired to restore the cabin says the work should be complete by the end of May. This will be a significant development, not only for me, but for the blog as well. Once the structural restoration is complete and I have set up the interior (and get electricity, a water pump etc.), I will actually be able to live and work there for up to a week at a time thanks to the mobile nature of my job. This means instant access to the woods and the ability to work on homestead/gardening/cabin projects anytime I’m there, something that I have never had since starting this blog!

So thank you for being patient! You can expect the frequency of posts to pick up here over the next few weeks and months (starting with a trip report on an overnighter I took late last month). I will finish this post with advice to any of you who may be going through hard times right now: Stand firm. Be resolute. No obstruction, no hindrance, no injury or setback is so severe that you cannot get past it with God’s help. Life may not be the same afterwards, but you will be stronger for having gone through it. Time does heal all wounds, especially when you help it along by having a positive mindset.

Filed under: Motivation, News, Personal Tagged: Motivation, News, Personal]]>https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/04/03/ob-la-di-ob-la-da/feed/41weekendwoodsmanCabin restoration project – Quick update (the outer roof is on)https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/01/20/cabin-restoration-project-quick-update-the-outer-roof-is-on/
https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/01/20/cabin-restoration-project-quick-update-the-outer-roof-is-on/#commentsTue, 20 Jan 2015 16:49:22 +0000http://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/?p=4051]]>Progress on the cabin has been going at a snail’s pace because the contractor has been tied up with larger projects, but I wanted to give you a mini-update on what has been going on. The “vesikatto” (or “water roof”, i.e. the outer roof) has been built on the cabin shell. There is still a gap between the roof and the walls, which will be filled when the roof insulation and interior paneling are installed.

Now that the roof is on, it’s really starting to look a lot more like a “real” cabin/house. Not too shabby!

(blurry “naked” shot from a friend’s phone:)

The next step should be to put in the windows, door and subfloor, as well as to remove the wall that’s currently dividing the cabin into two rooms.

Filed under: Building, Cabins, Shelter, Winter Tagged: Building, Cabins, Shelter, Winter]]>https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/01/20/cabin-restoration-project-quick-update-the-outer-roof-is-on/feed/10weekendwoodsmanMy DIY canvas pouch for pocket carryhttps://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/my-diy-canvas-pouch-for-pocket-carry/
https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/my-diy-canvas-pouch-for-pocket-carry/#commentsMon, 05 Jan 2015 16:15:44 +0000http://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/?p=4037]]>For the past 5+ years, I have regularly worn a pouch on my belt for convenient access to small, frequently used items (and emergency items) while in the woods. While convenience is great, a more important benefit of belt pouches is that they allow you to keep some critical gear items separate from your backpack so that, should your pack be separated from you, you still have a few basic essential capabilities. Without exaggeration, this can mean the difference between life and death in the most extreme cases.

As great as belt pouches are, though, they are not without their drawbacks. Besides getting in the way of backpack hip belts and other things that go around your waist, some belt pouches can get caught on branches etc. while passing through thick brush and sometimes even be opened up unintentionally in the process. They can also get in the way of long shirts and jackets (or create a large bulge if worn underneath).

Wanting to retain the benefits of a belt pouch, but not be bothered with the drawbacks, I decided to try out pocket carry instead. Whatever season it is, and whatever I happen to be wearing, I always have large pockets which can be snapped closed to hold a small pouch full of important items. Although pocket carry may be slightly less convenient, I’d be happy to give up a small amount of convenience in exchange for being more “aerodynamic”.

I put together this small canvas pouch on a lazy afternoon around Christmas:

I have already used this pouch once and found that it works great. There seems to be very little disadvantage to having the items in my pocket, as opposed to on my belt. I’ll continue to carry this way in the future and see how it goes. Oh, and if you’re wondering what’s in the pouch, you’ll have to wait for my overall gear update.

As a little bonus, here are some recent pictures I took at the old farm. The Woodsboy and I went out with some friends of ours after Christmas. Hope you enjoy!

Filed under: Bushcraft, Camping, DIY, Gear, Hiking, MYOG, Tools Tagged: Bushcraft, Camping, DIY, Gear, Hiking, MYOG, Tools]]>https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/my-diy-canvas-pouch-for-pocket-carry/feed/12weekendwoodsmanCabin restoration project – A cabin is (re)born!https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/cabin-restoration-project-a-cabin-is-reborn/
https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/cabin-restoration-project-a-cabin-is-reborn/#commentsTue, 28 Oct 2014 10:54:19 +0000http://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/?p=4024]]>“Another cabin post? Hey Weekend Woodsman, why don’t you just change the name of your blog to ‘The Cabin Restoration Project Blog’?” I know, I know. The simple truth is that I haven’t been doing any bushcraft, camping etc. since earlier this year because I’ve been spending my free time working on the old farm property. Now that the sauna building repairs are finished for the year and a professional has begun work on restoring the cabin, I can spend more of my free time on outdoor pursuits (e.g. Alex and I are planning an upcoming camping trip). But for now, here’s another installment of the cabin restoration project!

Last time around, I mentioned that any restoration of the old farm house has been put on the back burner due to cost and time constraints, and that for the time being the project will revolve around the restoration of one of the farm’s outbuildings instead. The building I speak of is called an “aitta” in Finnish, and the English translation for this word is usually something like “shed” or “grainery”, but I don’t really think either of these words are a good match. An aitta is a log building usually made up of two or three conjoined rooms, each with its own door to the outside. The rooms are unheated and can be furnished as living quarters or used for storage. I think one of the rooms in the aitta at the old farm may have been used to house animals, because it contains what looks like three animal stalls (this particular room will NOT be reused in this project).

The current phase of the project involves the dismantling, reconstruction and conversion of the other two aitta rooms into a two-room cabin with a loft. The aitta in question:

Here’s what’s left of the building at its original site:

After choosing a new site for the building, the contractor broke ground:

In the ground around the concrete block and timber foundation, he constructed what’s called a “salaoja”, or “hidden channel” covered over with gravel, which allows rain and snow-melt to drain away from the building area quickly. This prevents the moisture-related problems which plague so many old log buildings in the north country. Following this, the contractor removed the tin roof from the aitta and carefully dismantled the building, log by log. Before he did this, though, he numbered each individual log to make it easier to put the big jigsaw puzzle back together again later. Then began the process of reconstructing the building on its new foundation. For insulation between the logs, the contractor used some sort of natural-looking fibrous material (I’ll have to ask him about this). In the old days, sphagnum moss and old clothing were used instead! The pictures below show the current state of affairs. The contractor is jumping back and forth between different projects at the moment, so the work will not be continuous. He put a tarp over the whole shebang to keep rain and snow out until he puts a new roof on, which is the next step in the process.

Needless to say, I am very pleased with the work so far. A cabin is really beginning to take shape. Before long, this century-old homestead building will be brought back to life, its latest incarnation being a 30.5 m2 (330 sq ft) recreational cabin!

Interested in seeing how log buildings like this were constructed? Check this out:

Filed under: Building, Cabins, Shelter Tagged: Building, Cabins, Shelter]]>https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/cabin-restoration-project-a-cabin-is-reborn/feed/14weekendwoodsmanCabin restoration project – Finishing the sauna interior, and a new direction for the projecthttps://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/cabin-restoration-project-finishing-the-sauna-interior-and-a-new-direction-for-the-project/
https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/cabin-restoration-project-finishing-the-sauna-interior-and-a-new-direction-for-the-project/#commentsMon, 15 Sep 2014 19:08:25 +0000http://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/?p=4013]]>Hey guys and gals. It’s been a while! Since the last installment of this series, I have finished renovating the interior of the sauna building, so I thought I’d give you an update on that, as well as fill you in on the new direction the project is taking.

Last time, I showed that the changing room floor was almost complete. I have since finished the floor, molding etc. and, with the help of the Woodsboy, furnished that tiny room with some items salvaged from the old farm house: a little rug, a cot, a small folding table and an upholstered chair. Normally, a changing room like this would only have a bench or some chairs, but until there is a larger cabin on the property, this is the way it will stay.

As for the sauna side of the building, I’m happy to say it no longer looks like this:

Unfortunately, the nasty rotten floor boards in that room weren’t the only problem with the sauna. Removing the heat-shielding panels from behind the old sauna stove also revealed extensive water (and ant) damage resulting from a leak in the chimney. So I removed all the rotten and damaged wood from that room and enlisted the help of more experienced fellows to help me get the room into shape. We installed new floor boards, new wall boards, special waterproof trim around the bottom of the walls and some profiling along the drainage channel in the floor to protect the wood from water damage.

Next came the most important item in the sauna: the stove! I received this second-hand stove for free, which I was very happy about! Heat-shielding panels were installed around the stove to protect the wall. As you can see, the stove features a hot-water tank which allows you to heat water for bathing.

The final step in finishing the sauna was to sand and treat the benches.

With this, the interior of the sauna building is finished. What’s left is to make new steps out front to replace the rotting ones and give the exterior a new coat of paint. I will also dig out some of the soil under the building and replace it with gravel for better water drainage.

And now: the new direction of the overall project! Originally, the plan was to renovate all or part of the old farm house for use as a cabin…

…and to set up a small, one-room milled-plank cabin kit nearby which could be used while the house was being repaired and then later serve as a guest house. Unfortunately, it turns out that the amount of money and time required to renovate the old house will simply not be available anytime soon, so I scrapped this plan. While thinking of alternatives, I took stock of the existing buildings at the farm and realized that there might be some potential in the building I always called “the barn” (it’s actually more of a storage building, but one of the rooms does have animal stalls).

Admittedly, it looks like the building is about to fall over, but the log walls are in good condition and the building does have a decent amount of floor space. So I had a professional contractor who specializes in log buildings come out to assess the situation and I told him that I’d like to convert the two rooms on the right into a two-room cabin with a loft (the room on the left is not part of the original structure and would be scrapped). He said it shouldn’t be a problem, so that’s the new plan!

On my last trip out to the farm, I was accompanied by my friend Alex of 62nd Parallel North, who helped me empty the storage building of the junk (and good stuff) that had been piled up in there over the decades. Once we got the stuff out, I was happy to see that the logs were in even better condition than I thought.

Soon I will return to the property and remove the roof of this building in preparation for the contractor to come and dismantle it and reassemble it in a better location. He’ll install new floors, a new loft, a new roof, remove part of the wall inside to connect the two rooms, put in a new door and windows and install a wood-burning stove, among other things. Funding for the project will come from the sale of timber recently harvested from the property. By the way, in case you’re wondering, the total floor space of the cabin, including the loft, will be about 30.5 m2 (330 sq ft).

Seeing as how it’s been over two months since my last post, I’m sure some of you have wondered about the status and future of my blog. I’m happy to say that I have no intention of quitting! As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been dealing with something major in my personal life, but I am moving past this and have lots of plans for future blog posts on bushcraft, homesteading, the cabin and more. Please do stay tuned.

Filed under: Building, Cabins, DIY Tagged: Building, Cabins, DIY]]>https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/cabin-restoration-project-finishing-the-sauna-interior-and-a-new-direction-for-the-project/feed/2weekendwoodsmanCabin restoration project – Making headway on the sauna buildinghttps://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2014/07/03/cabin-restoration-project-making-headway-on-the-sauna-building/
https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2014/07/03/cabin-restoration-project-making-headway-on-the-sauna-building/#commentsThu, 03 Jul 2014 09:49:06 +0000http://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/?p=3993]]>Although I don’t post as often as I’d like to these days (still dealing with some major life changes), I do want to keep all y’all updated on what I’ve been doing in the outdoor/country arena. Though I haven’t been doing anything bushcraft- or woods-related lately, I have been visiting the old farm from time to time to work on fixing up the old buildings. As I mentioned in my last post, we decided to fix up the small sauna building (about 6.7 m²/72 ft²) first because it’s in the best shape. I also mentioned that we had removed the old floor boards because they had been damaged by moisture over time. Today’s post will pick up from there.

The two main reasons for the moisture damage to the floor boards were the building’s close proximity to the ground (essentially, it’s a wooden building sitting directly on the soil…) and the fact that there was insulation and plastic sheeting under the floor which prevented air from circulating properly. Our first job on a recent trip was getting the beams on which the building was built up off the ground. After lifting up a corner with a hydraulic car jack, we dug down a bit into the soil and put concrete tiles (on top of a piece of foam insulation for cushioning) in its place. The last step will be to remove more dirt from under the structure and between the tiles and put gravel there instead, allowing for better drainage and air circulation.

Inside the building, I removed the fiberglass insulation and plastic sheeting from between and on the floor joists in the changing room. On the sauna side, we removed the sauna stove, crappy heat-shield paneling from behind the stove and some of the rotten plywood boards from the floor. Some of the wall panels will have to be replaced as well due to water damage from a leaky chimney. The sauna side is still quite a mess!

Fortunately, things are a lot further along on the changing room side. After sanding the floor joists and covering them with some thin foam strips (to prevent squeaking), we started cutting and laying down the new floor boards. This was the first time I had done any kind of work like this, but I got the hang of it quickly and didn’t encounter any major problems.

Once the new boards were in, I put the floor molding back in place, as well as a few pieces around the doors which had to be trimmed on account of the new floor boards being thicker than the old ones. I also brushed off the ceiling and walls a bit (had to get rid of those cobwebs), shored up a few items here and there (door handles, small pieces of molding etc.) and cleaned and replaced the door between the rooms. Apart from fitting the very last floor board, replacing a small piece of molding on one wall and treating the new floor, the changing room is pretty much done for now.

With the (near) completion of the changing room, a small milestone has been reached: There is now a habitable, albeit tiny, room at the old homestead. It might only be big enough to hold a small bed and a chair or little dresser, but it’s a solid start!

I’ll leave you with a few pictures from around the property and some of the tools and other items I salvaged from the old barn.

Filed under: Building, Cabins, DIY, Shelter, Summer, Tools Tagged: Building, Cabins, DIY, Shelter, Summer, Tools]]>https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2014/07/03/cabin-restoration-project-making-headway-on-the-sauna-building/feed/10weekendwoodsmanCabin restoration project – Update for May 2014 and general plans moving forwardhttps://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2014/05/25/cabin-restoration-project-update-for-may-2014-and-general-plans-moving-forward/
https://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/2014/05/25/cabin-restoration-project-update-for-may-2014-and-general-plans-moving-forward/#commentsSun, 25 May 2014 10:05:49 +0000http://weekendwoodsman.wordpress.com/?p=3965]]>It’s been quite some time since I’ve mentioned the cabin restoration project (“Introduction“, “Out with the old“) because frankly, nothing had been happening with it. Well, that all changed this past Saturday, when renovation work commenced once again. Instead of continuing with the old farm house, though, we decided to change tactics and renovate the building which is in the best shape first, the sauna building.

This small building has two rooms, the actual sauna room on the left and a changing room on the right. It’s by far the newest building on the property and will require the least amount of work. So far, we have removed the floor boards in both rooms, as some of them were moldy and beginning to rot. In a few weeks, some of the Woodsbabe’s relatives and I will return to raise the building up higher to remedy the ground moisture problem. Then we’ll install new floor insulation, floor boards and a new “kiuas” (sauna stove). This, plus giving the place a general scrub-down and exterior paint job, will pretty much complete the work on the building. Although not large enough to be used as a cabin in its own right, the finished sauna building can serve as tiny sleeping quarters for one or two people while other renovation work is being done, so overnight stays at the property will be more convenient.

So that’ll be one job down with only 10,000,000 to go! A few other upcoming tasks for this spring/summer include:

Buying and assembling a small milled-plank cabin kit and outhouse kit

Finish stripping the old farmhouse walls and ceilings down to the bare log frame (so a professional can then come in and help with the restoration)

Having the well cleaned

Getting a new hand pump for the well (or fixing the existing one, if possible)

Clearing some of the saplings, bushes and tall reedy weeds which have sprung up in the farm fields over the years

You’ll notice that I mentioned buying and assembling a small cabin kit. “But isn’t there already a house there, Weekend Woodsman? You know, the one that’s going to be restored?” Yes, indeed there is. That project, however, will take time and money. It was decided that a little 20 m² (220 sqft) one-room cabin kit should be set up in the meantime so folks can already go there and enjoy the old farmstead while the big restoration job is underway. Once the main house is restored to usable condition, the small one-room cabin will serve as a guest house.

Some other future jobs at the old homestead will include:

Reestablishing the garden plot

Clearing a trail to the lake

Getting rid of the dilapidated old wash house

“Un-tilting” the barn and woodshed

Going through the collapsed log building in the woods to search for treasure (so far, I have seen a few horse-drawn plows)

Landscaping and general purdying-up of the place

etc. etc. etc…..

I’m very excited now that more real work has been done. Look forward to sporadic updates as the spring and summer progress!